2017 Stanley Cup - Pittsburgh Penguins

2017 - Stanley Cup Winner 2017

The 2017 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) 2016–17 season, and the culmination of the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Western Conference champion Nashville Predators, four games to two. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as a most valuable player of the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

The Penguins had a home-ice advantage in the series due to their better regular-season record. The series began on May 29 and concluded on June 11. The Penguins made their second consecutive Finals appearance, marking the third time in their history they had done this, following their appearances in 1991–1992 and 2008–2009. This was the first final since the latter year, which was a rematch between the Penguins and Detroit Red Wings, that any team appeared in consecutive Finals. The Penguins also became the first team since the Red Wings (in 1997 and 1998) to win consecutive Stanley Cups.

The Predators made their debut in the Finals. This was the second consecutive season in which a Western Conference team made their first appearance in the Finals; the San Jose Sharks made their Finals debut the year prior. This was the first time in NHL history that two United States–born head coaches faced off against each other in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The series saw the first two games won by the Penguins, with the Predators coming back winning two games at home and tying the series at two games apiece. However, Penguins goaltender Matt Murray did not allow a goal for the rest of the series, allowing Pittsburgh to win games five and six by 6-0 and 2-0 scores. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan became the third coach in NHL history to win a Stanley Cup in his first two seasons as a coach with his team, joining Pete Green of the Ottawa Senators (in 1920 and 1921) and Toe Blake of the Montreal Canadiens (in 1956 and 1957). This was the first final since 1983 wherein no game was decided by one goal.